Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

With an increasing number of persons infected with HIV/AIDS developing tuberculosis (TB), the Government is to establish by year end a state-of-the-art tuberculosis-testing facility at the National Public Health Laboratory.

This was revealed recently by Dr Kevin Harvey, senior medical officer in the National HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Programme in the Ministry of Health and Environment.

Currently, TB samples are sent to the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) in Trinidad and Tobago to be tested.

"We have to strengthen the TB programme because there is a linkage between TB and HIV," Harvey told The Gleaner.

Harvey said the testing facility would strengthen diagnosis, hence providing rapid treatment for persons with TB.

Tuberculosis is a disease caused by a germ called mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB most often affects the lungs, but TB germs can infect any part of the body. It is spread from one person to another through the air.

100 TB cases yearly

The senior medical officer said Jamaica has about 100 TB cases each year and about 10 per cent of HIV-infected persons may develop TB. He also noted that about 30 to 40 per cent of TB infected persons have HIV.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, 25,000 persons are living with HIV but 15,000 are not aware of their status.

Harvey said persons who are HIV infected are more likely to develop TB than persons who are not HIV-positive. The two infections, he said, fuel each other as they both destroy the immune system.

"So if you have TB and HIV, you're in a really dire strait though there is treatment. So, we encourage HIV-infected persons to get tested for TB and all TB-infected persons should have an HIV test," the senior medical officer said.

petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com